Modern communication and data networks are comprised of nodes that transport data through the network. The nodes may include routers, switches, bridges, or combinations thereof that transport the individual data packets or frames through the network. Traditionally, networks offered data services by forwarding data frames across the network without using pre-configured routes or bandwidth reservation on intermediate nodes, e.g. in a connectionless manner. Other networks may forward the data frames across the network along pre-configured routes or connection oriented paths, with each node along the route reserving bandwidth for the data frames. Mixed or hybrid networks can support both connectionless forwarding and connection oriented paths to deliver data services. In such networks, controlling traffic congestion at a node within the network can be a challenge.
Several solutions for traffic congestion exist. For example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.1 or 802.3 standard traffic congestion solution drops all packets marked as best effort packets first, and then drops other packets to reduce the traffic rate. Such a method is undesirable because the customer has to retransmit the packets that are dropped. Alternatively, traffic congestion may be controlled by signaling adjacent nodes to stop transmitting traffic, for instance using a “PAUSE” message or frame. However, such a method is undesirable because it may cause the network to oscillate its packet transmission rates, a condition known as network oscillation syndrome.